INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (16:32): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier advise the house about the support the jobs in the economy that government infrastructure investments are providing?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (16:33): I thank the member for Florey for this important question. The government has committed to several significant infrastructure projects that are rebuilding both the economic and also the social infrastructure of this state. These works are also an important part of responding to the lingering effects of the global financial crisis and the effects that that is having on our state economy. Outside of the mining sector business investment has not been as strong as we would have liked it, and firms are making decisions to withhold or delay investment decisions while economic activity remains subdued.

However, the government has stepped into that gap with construction activity by committing to a range of substantial investments, which include: the new Royal Adelaide Hospital, which is now taking shape—a magnificent new facility; the electrification of the Gawler rail line from Adelaide to Dry Creek; the extension of the Noarlunga rail line to Seaford; the resleepering of the Outer Harbour line; the upgrade of South Road between Torrens Road and the River Torrens; the duplication of the Southern Expressway; the redevelopment of the Adelaide Oval; and the expansion of the Adelaide Convention Centre.

The forward estimates reflect a capital investment program of $10.1 billion over the next four years. This comprises expenditure of $7.6 billion in the general government sector and $2.5 billion in the public non-financial sector. The government's $10.1 billion total capital program will support 8,700 jobs in 2013-14 alone and will assist in leveraging further investment from the private sector as well as other areas of the economy.

I have been provided with a Premier and Cabinet analysis of the additional economic contribution of the government's investment spend, focusing on the 2012-13 financial year. Looking only at the spend in excess of forecast depreciation, the additional expenditure is estimated to have contributed 0.9 per cent to gross state product and kept the unemployment rate up to 0.7 percentage points lower than it would otherwise have been.

Clearly, the government's infrastructure spending has made a substantial positive contribution to South Australia's economic performance. This shows the necessity of a government investing in the economy right now to support economic activity in the future. We know that the Leader of the Opposition calls this a 'false economy'. We do not share that view. He couldn't be more wrong and the evidence is before us.